Chatmoss is a census-designated place (CDP) in Henry County, Virginia, United States. As of the 2020 census, Chatmoss had a population of 1,671. It is part of the Martinsville Micropolitan Statistical Area .

History

thumb|left|200px|Blind itinerant [[Evangelism|evangelist and assistant, Chatmoss, c. 1898]]

Chatmoss takes its name from a 2,700-acre (11&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) Hairston family plantation on the site, which was later incorporated into a larger country club building on the site. That name probably derives from "Chat Moss", a large area of peat bog near Manchester, UK. In turn, that bog may be named after St Chad, or even from the Celtic word ced, meaning wood. Alternatively it may be an Old English personal name and mos, meaning "swamp." Low-lying areas around Chatmoss were boggy wetlands prone to flooding from Leatherwood Creek before mitigation by several dams.

The Hairston family owned many plantations scattered across the South, including plantations in North Carolina, Tennessee, Mississippi and Virginia. The family's Henry County plantations included still extant Beaver Creek Plantation and Hordsville, as well as plantations at Marrowbone, Magna Vista, Leatherwood, Camp Branch and Shawnee, which are no longer standing. The Chatmoss property was long owned by Harden Hairston, who inherited it, but it was later sold by a descendant to the developers of the country club on the site.

Geography

Chatmoss is located at (36.679666, &minus;79.805641).

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.4&nbsp;square miles (13.9&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>), of which 5.3&nbsp;square miles (13.9&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) is land and 0.04&nbsp;square mile (0.1&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) (0.37%) is water.

Demographics

Chatmoss was first listed as a census designated place in the 2000 U.S. census formed along with Laurel Park CDP out of the deleted Chatmoss-Laurel Park CDP.

0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.

There were 729 households in Chatmoss, of which 20.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 53.9% were married-couple households, 13.4% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 29.2% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 27.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 17.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.